


goodbye stranger

by johncasey



Category: The Last Ship (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27537181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johncasey/pseuds/johncasey
Summary: And there’s a song that plays on repeat, coming from the Captain’s room...Goodbye stranger it's been nice;Hope you find your paradise.Tried to see your point of view,Hope your dreams will all come true.
Relationships: Tom Chandler/Mike Slattery
Kudos: 3





	goodbye stranger

**_Like a king without a castle._ **

Phase Six.

80% of the world is affected, among them, Lucas, his son, and Darien, Tom’s wife---and possibly Christine, Hannah, and AJ. Mike doesn’t know. He thinks but… he can only hope he’s wrong.

Mike figures there’s no Phase Seven. Unless Phase Seven is the Nathan James. The mission changes, the targets materialize, but Tom is _hunting_. He’s not on the same mission as the crew. 

Not anymore. 

It’s hard to follow a leader who’s hell bent on revenge.

And Mike bucks. _Hard_. But Tom doesn’t listen. He makes good points---for now, the mission can change. It can bend and twist. It’s still a believable mission. 

For the country.

_For the world_. 

Time goes on and the once familiar and close, once warm look in Tom’s eyes has grown cold and distant. The Tom he knew, the godfather of his children, the best man at his wedding, his confidant---he’s slipping away. And there’s absolutely _nothing_ that Mike can do.

Who do you talk to when the one person who knows you best isn’t that person anymore? 

**_Like a ship without an anchor._ **

He meets with Master Chief on a semi-regular basis, but it’s not the same. He loves Russ, but he’s not Tom. He’s not his best friend.

He watches as revenge takes over. As his eyes turn red. He tries to talk to him, but Tom just stares back with that distant look in his eyes, like he’s looking right through Mike. Right through the ship. 

It’s the first time he realizes that Tom isn’t really here. He’s going through the motions. He’s putting on his uniform and he’s doing his duty and he’s making an appearance because he needs the Nathan James to fight this battle and he can’t run it by himself.

The meetings with Master Chief become more frequent, and while Mike doesn’t consider himself a religious man, he heeds the words Russ shares. He starts to pray. For Christine. For Hannah, AJ, for Lucas’ soul, and for Tom.

He feels stupid doing it. Talking to some entity that’s supposed to be up there taking care of everyone. A fine job they’re doing, Mike muses as he looks at the shape of the world. All those sick, dying, and dead---not a single celestial finger was lifted. 

But still, _he prays_. 

He doesn’t know if it will make any kind of difference or not, but he prays. As he watches Tom in command, his heart breaks. These decisions he’s making, driven by anger and what he believes is fear---he needs someone.

So he tries again. He tries to talk to him. One on one. Shootin’ the shit like they used to. Tom laughs, but it’s not his laugh. And Mike knows.

Phase Eight. Nine. Ten. 

Where does it end?

Tom throws himself into harm’s way more often than not. He makes stupid and reckless decisions. 

He calls him on his bullshit only to get bit back and told to _fall in line_. 

He doesn’t want to push him away. He wants Tom to know he’s there for him, always. But he makes it hard. He stops letting Mike into his state room. He stops the one on one conversations not related to the _mission_. Which is now just a bullshit term for _Tom’s Revenge Caper._

Mike’s never been on a sinking ship before, but he knows what it feels like. He knows what it feels like to watch something you’ve put all your hopes and dreams in slip away like a ghost in the water. To watch it drifting farther and farther away, no hope of reconnecting with it despite the way your hand reaches out. It’s gone forever. Just like Tom.

There’s a picture of the two of them that he keeps close, for occasions like this, when he feels like he’s lost everything in the world, including his best friend. He stares at it for what seems like hours, ignoring the way his tears fall onto it, only brushing them off with the side of his hand when they make a little pool. He doesn’t know what to do. 

When a ship is sinking, you abandon it.

But he can’t abandon Tom.

_He can’t._

Turns out, though, Tom can abandon him.

He says he wanted to tell him first and Mike wants to say he’s not surprised, but he is. 

A heated argument ensues, but it’s pointless. Tom’s already made up his mind.

He’s leaving.

He tries to make his case, to let him know that he’s needed. That he’s loved. 

That he’s not the monster he thinks he is.

**_But Ahab’s always going to chase his white whale._ **

The last words Mike speaks to him are those yelled out on the deck:

**“DON’T LOOK BACK.”**

~~And he doesn’t.~~

And there’s a song that plays on repeat, coming from the Captain’s room...

**_Goodbye stranger it's been nice;_ **   
**_Hope you find your paradise._ **   
**_Tried to see your point of view,_ **   
**_Hope your dreams will all come true._ **


End file.
